The Girl Hidden In Candlelight
by Jynx Harvest
Summary: It's almost Christmas, but Professor X sends the X-Men on an urgent mission to find a young mutant girl. Why is this girl so important? And will she accept Kurt for who he is? Kurt/Oc. Please R&R if you can.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Professor X, Logan, Scott, Kurt, Storm, Jean, and Rogue all belong to Marvel. X Men: Evolution belongs to Marvel, too. I don't work for Marvel. (But one day...*__*)**

**Warnings: Contains extreme poverty (which might make somebody sad, idk.) mild mention of alchohol. Not exactly a happy tale. Kurt/OC**

**A/N: This is my first X-Men fanfic *ever*!!! So...don't shoot me. xD. In later chapters I add in a teeny-tiny bit of Kurt's Catholic aspect from the comics, but just a little bit. Zoey/Glitz belongs to moi. ENJOY, PLEASE!!! Oh, takes place first season, after everyone officially trusts Rogue but before Beast joins.**

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Scott, Logan, Jean, Ororo, Kurt, Rogue, and Professor Xavier all stood suited up near the X-Jet, getting ready to board. Wolverine and Storm seemed a bit tense, while Jean and Scott were both pumped up and ready for the mission. Professor Xavier sat in his wheelchair, looking a bit withdrawn. He was needed at the mansion and would not be going on the mission. Kitty and Evan were at home with their families since it was so close to Christmas. Something came up at Kurt's parents house and he couldn't go to see them until the day of Christmas. No one had any idea what sort of mission it was supposed to be, and they wondered why it had been so urgent that it couldn't wait until after the holidays. After a few moments of waiting, the Professor finally spoke.

"I'm sorry that I have to send you on a mission when it's so near to the holidays, but this task is of the utmost importance." Professor X explained, looking up at Scott and Logan. "You are not to return until it has been completed, and you must not let Magneto or the Brotherhood interfere."

"Alright," Logan said, gruff voice holding some impatience. "What's the mission?"

Professor Xavier drew in a long breath, then said: "I have located another mutant using Cerebro. Her name is Zoey Harvest, she is approximately six months younger than Kurt, and you'll find her in the theatre district of New York City."

Scott made a "tch." sound. "What? All this just to find some girl? Come on, Professor, can't it wait until after New Year's?"

"I'm afraid not." The Professor resolved. "Please try not to waste any time. She's a teleporter among other things, so try not to scare her away." He hesitated. "I only hope it is not too late."

"Sorry, professor, but why exactly is this…Zoey so important? Why do we have to get her _now_?" Jean asked, skeptical as was everyone else.

"Because, Jean," Xavier started. "Miss Harvest is dying."

"Dyin'?" Rogue interjected. "Whaddya mean, dyin'?"

"I mean exactly that." The Professor explained. "Zoey is homeless, and I fear she has not eaten in quite some time." He added, "I doubt that she will survive much longer on the streets. Therefore, I insist you make haste."

"Of course, professor." Storm said with a slight nod of her head. "But why did you say before not to allow Magneto or the Brotherhood to interfere? Do you believe they will also go after her?"

"Yes, Ororo, I do. Zoey's power are quite formidable and convenient. If someone else finds her and she joins them, I'm afraid we shall have a major issue on our hands." He said. "So please, be careful."

"Sure thing, Charles." Logan grumbled, turning toward the X-Jet. "Come on."

Storm turned as well, Jean and Rogue following after her. Scott waved to the professor then left too. "See you later, Professor!" Kurt exclaimed, disappearing with a soft _bamf_. He reappeared on the jet, buckling himself in to one of the seats. Logan and Storm were already at the controls, Jean and Scott and Rogue boarding the plane.

When everyone was buckled in and ready, the jet took off. "I can't believe it. A kid wandering the streets of such a big city? A _mutant_ kid? " Scott said to no one in particular.

"I just hope we find her quickly so we can be back in time for Christmas," Kurt added, unable to sit still. "Vouldn't vant to miss that!"

Jean rolled her eyes. "How can you think about Christmas at a time like this?" She snapped. "You heard Professor Xavier, that Zoey girl is _dying._ We have to help her."

Kurt pouted and shrunk back in his seat. "Vell, yeah, we have to help her…I just vant to do it before Christmas." He said with a shrug, then added, "I've never met another teleporter before."

"Rogue—you've been quiet, what are you thinking about?" Scott asked suddenly. Rogue's head shot up at the sound of her name, then she looked away.

"Nothing. It's just… 'Zoey Harvest'…that name sounds so familiar, but Ah…Ah just can't place it." Rogue answered, head wrapped in thought.

"Really?" Jean asked. "Well…don't let it bug you, it's probably just a common name."

"Yeah…Ah guess you're right." Rogue muttered, unconvinced.

It wasn't a very long flight, only an hour or so. It was pretty early in the morning, so with the exception of the pilots everyone took a nap. Eventually Ororo called out to everyone that they'd land in fifteen minutes and that it wasn't the greatest idea to walk around one of the most populous cities on Earth in their uniforms. Which was entirely true. The teens took turns changing into more casual, warm clothes.

Kurt decided that he had better wear his image inducer, and no one argued. Once again, it was a crowded city, not to mention they didn't want to scare the girl they were trying to help.

They landed a few miles away from the city and departed from the jet. They walked to a point where they could get onto a bus, then the team was finally headed to the theatre district of New York City. While they were on the bus, they discussed how exactly they were to go about _finding_ the girl.

"Jean will have to use her powers to locate Zoey," Ororo said. "Otherwise we will never find her. Not without the professor."

Jean nodded in agreement. "I should be able to do that." She said. "Just…give me a minute."

"Take yer time." Wolverine said, leaning against a window as the bus neared the stop. Jean opened her eyes as the team rose, then stood up herself.

"She's on thirty fourth and Broadway." Jean announced. As the team exited onto the streets of NYC, Rogue just shook her head.

"Ah'll never understand wah New York doesn't just use normal street names and numbers like every other city."

Kurt tightened his scarf as Ororo took out a map and stared uncomprehendingly at it. She turned it another way, then looked up to the nearest street sign. "It seems we must go this way," Storm said, turning to the left. "Jean, did you notice anything else about her whereabouts?"

Jean nodded. "Yeah—it looked like she was in a theatre…but all the lights were off, and there were boards covering the entrances. It looked abandoned."

Wolverine started walking in the direction Storm had been facing, Rogue and Nightcrawler following after. "Well, that's a better start than nothin', I guess." Logan said. Storm put away the map and started walking.

The team traveled a few blocks before they stopped for hot chocolate. It was _freezing._ They only spent five minutes at the coffee shop before they returned to their trek. They were wandering around for a good half-hour before they came to what seemed to be an abandoned theatre, the front entrance locked and bolted and boarded-over, plastered with fliers and ads.

"She's in there," Jean said, eyes closed. "We can't just break down the door. There's people everywhere and that will probably freak her out."

All eyes fell on Kurt. He put a gloved hand behind his head with a sheepish smile. "Vell…I guess it vouldn't hurt to try." He said. "Grab on…I guess my power comes in handy at least, for breaking and entering."

Scott just smirked at him as everyone lightly touched him. With a soft 'bamf', the team was inside of the abandoned theatre. For an instant there was beautiful piano music, but it was quickly cut off after they got in. Kurt heard a quiet gasp from far off in the poorly-lit theatre. Rogue pulled him to the side, the team hiding behind dusty seats in pairs of two. The German squinted as a dim flashlight shone in their general direction.

"Who's there?" A low yet feminine voice demanded. Rogue clung to Kurt, who was staring at the two older mutants. They came in here to find Zoey—why were they afraid of getting caught? Finally, Ororo rose from her hiding place, much to the apparent distaste of the young girl.

"You're not welcome here." Kurt heard the girl say. "I don't know how you got in here, but get out. Now."

"Zoey, please, I just want to—"

"_What?_" The girl snapped. "How do you know my name?" Kurt heard a strange sound, something like chimes, or glass falling, a 'ching' noise. "You're from that anti-mutant group, aren't you?" Zoey's voice sounded farther away now. _Anti-mutant group?_

"No, Zoey, please listen to me." Storm said calmly. "My name is Ororo. I just want to help you."

"Yeah?" The girl retorted. "Well, I don't take charity."

"Evidently not," A thick voice broke in. Kurt looked away from Storm to see Wolverine rising. He heard Zoey take a few steps back. Seeing the adults now, Nightcrawler saw that they both looked concered. He wondered why.

"Jeez, how many of you _are_ there? What do you want with me?"

"We're like you, kid," Wolverine started.

"No one's like me." Zoey interrupted, sounding almost desperate now. After a pause she said, "You're mutants, too?"

"Yes, we are." Storm said caringly.

"Well, prove it."

Rogue leaned in to Kurt's ear. "Ugh. Ah was kinda hopin' _you_ would get to demonstrate, since she could relate to you the most. Seeing knives pop outta Logan's hands might freak 'er out." She whispered. The sound of Wolverine's claws shooting out echoed around the theatre. Kurt groaned quietly.

"…Do those _hurt?_"

"Every time."

"…You have my attention."

Kurt and Rogue let out a long breath and relaxed. Only when he saw his breath did Kurt realize how cold it was in the building.

"Logan and I are from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Storm stated.

"Institute." Zoey repeated. Institute could be taken two ways, and since she mentioned an anti-mutant group, Kurt assumed that she didn't know what Ororo had meant.

"It's a school for mutants, like us. Logan and I are teachers there. If you come with us, you'll be able to live at the mansion and learn how to master your powers, and be enrolled in high school. You'll meet other mutants your age, as well." Storm explained, sounding sweet. "You may even get to join our team, the X-Men. We get to help mutants that need us. We even have codenames. Mine is Storm. Logan's is Wolverine. I'm sure you, too, have been called by a name other than your own in the past?"

"Count me out." Zoey responded coldly. Logan growled.

"Why's that, kid?" He grumbled. Storm looked defeated.

"I'm perfectly content being a theatre ghost. Everyone on the street thinks the place is haunted. I'm doing fine here by myself, not to mention I don't trust you."

Now Jean stood. "Please, Zoey, hear us out." She pleaded. "We need you to come back with us. We won't leave without you."

Zoey gasped, then scowled. "Alright—who else is here? Come out." Scott sheepishly stood up. "All of you," She added, irritated. Reluctantly, Rogue rose, then Kurt, too.

Nightcrawler saw her for the first time. Now he knew why Storm and Wolverine and Jean had looked so concerned when they came out of hiding. Professor Xavier was right, Zoey was dying. She had dark circles practically carved under eyes, which were so bloodshot you could scarcely tell they were gold. Her short brown pigtails were in a tangled disarray, her torn clothes were nowhere near warm enough for winter. Zoey's skin was stretch across her bones, thinner than any girl should ever be. She was leaning on one of the audience seats for support. Instead of a foggy cloud appearing when she exhaled, there was a burst of multicolored sparkles. These sparkles also seemed to fall from random parts of her body constantly, disappearing before they hit the ground. She was pale enough to be a ghost, which probably contributed to the Phantom of the Opera scene she was probably going for.

"We all want you to join the team, Zoey." Scott said with a smile. "We're like a family, and we'd be happy to have you be a part of it."

Zoey's eyes were locked on Rogue. She looked almost horrified. Kurt looked over to Rogue, and saw that her face was buried in her hands. He touched her shoulder lightly. "Rogue? Are you alright?"

"Ah—yeah, j-just a headache. Must be from the plane. Or the smog. Or the cold." Rogue responded with a little smile, though not moving from her position. After a minute, Zoey snapped out of it and returned to the conversation.

"A team? A _family?_" She retorted. "Listen. Listen to me. The answer is no. Teams and families never work out for me. I'm like a living bad luck charm. If you know what's best for you, you'll go back to your little Xavier institute and try not to get yourselves hurt." In an instant, she burst into an explosion of billions of tiny sparkles, the chime/glass/_ching_ sound replaying itself as she reappeared by the piano she had been at. Evidently it was a difficult task, since she nonchalantly leaned against the instrument to keep from collapsing. Kurt winced out of empathy. Logan let out a soft growl. They had heard the same thing before from many other mutants. With them, it was best not to pry right away or else their fears could become true.

Jean sighed and stepped forward. "Will you at least let us get some food for you?"

Zoey huffed a hair out of her face, her breath sparkled rainbow colors. "I don't take charity."

"Look at ye, kid, yer starvin'." Wolverine pointed out.

The girl groaned. "Please, just leave me alone and get out of here!"

Logan and Ororo closed in on Kurt expectantly. Kurt looked at them as if they had lost their minds. "Vhat?! No, ve can't just leave her here, you heard the professor—"

"—Kurt, please. We'll find her again tomorrow. She needs some time to think." Storm interrupted. Kurt slumped forward with a sigh, and held out his hands. Before everyone grabbed on, Rogue called out to Zoey.

"Will you try to think on it?" She asked. For a moment, Zoey looked as if Rogue had just stabbed her. Her mouth opened slightly, then snapped shut. The girl just turned away and sat at her piano, refusing to look at the very confused Rogue. With that, the team disappeared, rematerializing outside of the theatre. Rogue and Kurt both looked stunned. Scott and Jean sympathetic. Logan and Ororo worried.

They got two relatively cheap hotel rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. Logan and Storm decided that as long as they were careful and at least one other person was with them, everyone could walk around the city by themselves. They had to be back at the hotel by seven, giving them three hours. For teenagers, it was all the time in the world and yet no time at all. The four of them just decided to walk around together in Times Square and do some random shopping/ people watching/ eating. They were all in a store looking at some clothes when they got to talking about their mission again.

"Ah don't think she liked me," Rogue said quietly. "Did you see how she looked at me?"

"She did seem kind of afraid, but I can't imagine why." Jean admitted, mindlessly staring at a red sweater in her hands. "Have you met her before?"

"Ah don't _think_ so…" Rogue started. "But she looked so…_familiar." _Scott turned to look at her, somewhat shocked.

"Really?" Scott pressed. "How—" He cut himself off after Rogue leaned against a wall, laying a hand against her forehead. Best not to pry with Rogue when she had a headache.

They didn't stay out for the full three hours since it got dark pretty early and none of them, even as mutants, honestly wanted to be roaming around New York at night by themselves…that and Rogue still wasn't feeling her best, so the teens just headed back to the hotel for the night after they ate something. The boys found that Logan had gone out, but Storm had stayed behind incase someone came back early (like they did.)

Rogue had gone to bed right away, falling into a fitful sleep instantly. Jean and Storm worried about her, and Jean suggested that they take her back to the mansion, but Ororo reminded her that they couldn't leave until they had Zoey. She didn't doubt that the professor would understand, but it was still a better idea to stay anyway. They decided that if Rogue wasn't better by the morning Storm or Wolverine would take her home and everyone else would stay.

Ororo warned Jean and the boys that they'd be going out early the next day and to try to get a lot of sleep. They were probably going to spend the whole day chasing the young mutant and trying to convince her to join them. Knowing this, Cyclops and Nightcrawler and Jean all went to bed around midnight—an early time for them. The boys had been sound asleep when Logan returned, smelling mildly of bourbon and cigar smoke at two o' clock a.m.

After everyone else was asleep, Storm turned on her laptop and went to her e-mail. She began composing a message to Professor Xavier.

_Professor, we found Zoey right after we arrived in New York. We tried to talk to her but it was useless. At the moment she seems pretty certain that she will not come back to the mansion with us or join the team—however I very much doubt that she will join Magneto either should he decide to go after her. Zoey is under the impression that she is a jinx and that everyone around her gets hurt I'm afraid you were correct on the subject of her health and I must say that Logan and I both agree with you, she shall not live for very much longer. We will try again tomorrow morning, hopefully Zoey will have given us some thought. _

_Also, sir, Rogue is ill. She is suffering from headaches again. If her pain has not ceased by morning Logan or I will, with your permission, need to take her home. _

_Besides Zoey and Rogue everyone is alright. The large amount of people does not seem to be bothering Jean and Kurt's image inducer seems to be working perfectly. We shall hopefully see you soon._

_—Ororo_

Storm let out a quiet sigh and pressed 'send', then shut her laptop. She glanced over at the two sleeping girls and a small smile graced her face. They would get Zoey eventually, she just knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Zoey/Glitz.**

**Warnings: Kinda sad parts, there's major hints of Jean/Scott here.**

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry this took so long. I worked on it every day and it just seemed to never get any longer. :-/ I don't know what happened. (And, by the way, there are no typos in here. Every word that's missing a letter (like when Scott says 'm instead of I'm) is on purpose.)**

**ENJOY, PLEASE!**

**P.s....I love reviews. Even if they're only two words long :] **

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Rouge was the last to wake in the morning. She looked paler than usual and seemed very tired. The girl told Ororo that she felt better, but didn't feel up to working on the mission that day and just wanted to stay at the hotel. Storm agreed to Rouge's wishes, then she went back to bed while everyone else got ready. It was only fifteen degrees Fahrenheit outside, so they packed on the layers of clothes.

Jean took a little more time trying to find Zoey that day, she was on the move and was no longer in the abandoned theatre. She was in a dark alleyway a few blocks away, and she was not alone. Jean gasped, and turned to Logan.

"Toad and Pietro and Lance are with her," The telepath announced. Kurt, Scott, and Storm all turned to look at her, shock on their faces.

"Uh-oh. The professor was right." Scott said. "We have to go find her, _fast."_

"Right." said Jean. "Follow me." With that, the team broke into a sprint down the hall, down the many flights of stairs, through the lobby, and out the hotel's exit, onto the streets of New York. They raced after Jean, maneuvering through the hundreds of buses and taxis and bicycles in the city, not paying any attention to cross walks or traffic lights.

Jean made a few wrong turns, but it was to be expected. It was hard for her to use her telepathy in such a crowded city. She always got back onto the right track, however. After ten minutes of searching, Jean declared that Zoey was still where she was before, but the Brotherhood had left. She couldn't tell if she was hurt or unconscious, too far away. Too crowded. They continued to search, but the telepath stopped short.

"She's over there," Jean told the team breathlessly, pointing toward a dark alley. Kurt almost teleported over, but then he remembered all of the people. He and Scott ran behind Storm and Wolverine, the cold making them slightly slower. The team skidded to a halt when they arrived at the entrance to the alleyway.

Zoey was sitting down, leaning against a graffitied brick wall, next to a set of three stone steps that led to a boarded-over and padlocked door. She was shooting was seemed to be marbles with her right hand, attempting to fire them into a hole in the wall opposite her. The girl looked up at them and scowled, then went back to her marbles. Zoey wore a tattered yellow tank top with a skirt that used to be white, and a long scarlet jacket-sweater that reached down to her knees and tied in the front. Warm? No. It was sleeveless. The sparkles that had generated from her seemed to be less in number.

Ororo went to kneel down beside her. "…Zoey?" She asked quietly. No response. "By any chance, did another mutant team come to see you today?" Zoey grabbed one of the marbles she had just shot before it even went an inch away.

"What's it to ya?" She asked. Storm gave her an exasperated look, and she sighed a sparkling cloud. "Yes. They made an…interesting proposition." Kurt and Scott groaned, Logan growled. "What?" Zoey demanded.

"Who you met was the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants." Jean explained.

"_Evil_ Mutants. They're zee bad guys!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Whatever they told you was probably a lie." Scott said. "They just want you for your powers. We just want to help you."

"Funny," Zoey muttered. "They said the same thing about you." The X-Men froze and went silent. The teleporter let out another sparkled sigh. "I said they made an interesting proposition…not that I would _accept_ it." She said, shooting a marble into the wall. "They were very nice. Made me all the more eager _not_ to join. They said they'd come find me again tomorrow for my final decision. My final decision is _no."_

_What? So if she likes us, she won't come with us._ Kurt thought.

"Oh, I see." Storm said calmly, using a voice like that a kindergarten teacher would use on a child who had done something wrong. "Well…have you considered coming with us?"

"Gave it all the thought it was due. My answer is still no." Zoey didn't _look_ like the answer was no. She looked like she was still thinking about it. She made no move to leave or to make the X-Men leave. Maybe she was just being polite. The girl shot another marble into a crack in the pavement beneath her.

"You sure have a lot of marbles," Kurt pointed out, ending the awkward silence. Zoey looked up at him, puzzled, then picked up the marble she had just shot.

"These aren't marbles," She said, confused. She covered the clear sphere with her other hand, and Kurt heard the same sound that happened when Zoey teleported. She drew in a quick breath, then uncovered what used to be a marble. In its place was a glittering crystal flower of about the same size.

"Vas is das…?" Everyone stared at it, but after only thirty seconds it burst into a billion pieces of confetti that disappeared before it hit the ground. The team blinked incomprehensibly.

"I make diamonds. Out of air. Temporarily, of course. Uncut and short-lived, but they are real diamonds. I teleport the same way I make the crystals. How exactly I do that, I have no idea." Zoey explained.

"Woah." said Scott.

"I control the weather." Storm said, taking the perfect opportunity to converse with the girl. "I'm a weather-witch. I can make it snow, rain…I could make a tornado, or I could make the sun shine." She continued. "However, I cannot do it in such a populous city. Too many people would notice."

Logan stepped in. "Well, ya saw my claws before, but I also have healin' powers. I'm almost 120 years old."

Zoey stared in surprise.

"I don't think you ever learned my name. I'm Scott, or Cyclops, if you prefer." He introduced himself with a smile. "I shoot lasers out of my eyes."

"I'm Jean," She said. "I have telepathy, and telekinesis, but I'm not very good at it." Jean laughed.

"And I'm Kurt!" He exclaimed cheerfully, hoping that this would convince her to join. He ported next to her with a soft _bamf_. Zoey drew in a quick breath when he reappeared. "Or Nightcrawler. I can teleport, like you!"

"Huh…I've never met another teleporter before." Zoey muttered, staring at Kurt's huge smile.

"Me either!" Nightcrawler grinned, looking extremely happy.

"Back at Xavier's, we've also got Kitty and Evan. Kitty we call Shadowcat, and she can walk through walls and stuff. Evan is Spyke…he shoots spikes out of his body. Like a porcupine." Scott said with a laugh. "And Professor X is one of the strongest telepaths in the history of mutants."

"…What happened to that girl who was with you yesterday?" Zoey asked, looking hollow.

"Rouge?" Kurt responded. "She vasn't feeling vell today, so she stayed back at zee hotel." He paused. "Vhy do you ask?"

"Just wondering…" The girl trailed off quietly. She let out a sparkled sigh. "Why are all of you so interested in me?" She asked, changing the subject. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"It's our duty to help mutants like yourself," Storm answered. "You are homeless and alone…and dying. Three things that no child should ever be."

"Charles—Professor Xavier was worried about ya, kid. He wants ya with us, so do we, and we ain't gonna leave until ya are." said Logan.

Zoey stood up with a huff, glitter majestically falling from her. "Well. In that case…" She started. "Hope you like New York." With that, the girl disappeared in an explosion of diamond dust. Storm had reached out to stop her, but instead her hand went through the fading glitter cloud. She withdrew her arm with a sigh and stood up.

"Shoot." Said Jean. "I thought we were starting to get through to her."

"Obviously not," Wolverine growled, turning back to the street. Scott sighed and followed him, then Storm, Jean, and Kurt trailed after. Cyclops started shivering violently after only twenty more minutes of walking. The temperature had dropped to eight degrees Fahrenheit. It was known to get much colder than that in the city. Jean rubbed her hands together in a feeble attempt to warm them. After another hour or so, Storm finally gave up and led the team to a heated restaurant to grab a hot lunch. They all sat down at a table and waited, shaking, for their menus.

"St-St-Storm—" Cyclops started. "H-how about a l-little s-sunshine, h-h-h-huh?" He stammered. Ororo just gave him a playful glare.

"If I've said it once, I'll say it again. I'm a weather witch—"

"—Not a snowplow." She and Logan finished harmoniously. Logan slid her a teasing look, then looked at the newly-arrived menus.

"I can't raise the temperature more than ten degrees without the whole city falling into panicked chaos." Storm explained.

"I—I know, Storm, I was j-just—" He broke into a quiet, but painful sounding coughing fit. The team all stared at him, confused and concerned. Scott was still shivering, everyone else had pretty much thawed out five minutes before. Logan was just about to stand up to help him before Cyclops finally stopped. When the coughing ceased, he looked pale and very tired.

Jean and Storm exchanged glances, then stared at him empathetically. No one coughs like _that_ for no reason, and Scott was _still_ shivering like he was in negative forty six degree weather. When the waitress came around, Logan just ordered a big plate of nachos that they would all share, a cup of coffee for himself, Scott, and Jean, and tea for Storm, and hot chocolate for Kurt.

"Are you…okay, Scott?" Jean finally asked, breaking the silence of gloom. The mutant did not reply right away, his arms tucked into each other, shaking dramatically and teeth chattering gently.

"…I _think_ so." He said after a silence, pulling his scarf a little tighter. "J-Just kinda co—col—cold ." Scott stammered out, the last few syllables in between coughs.

"Maybe ve should go back to zee hotel," Kurt suggested, watching Scott. "He seems really sick." Cyclops groaned, then shook his head, falling into another coughing fit. The group waited patiently, and when the fit subsided he spoke.

"N-No, w-w-we have to find Zo-ey." He stuttered. The waitress arrived with the hot drinks, placing a coffee in front of Scott. He gratefully took it and drank it down, shivering afterward. After the server left, the conversation went on. Scott wasn't shivering as much but he still _was._

"We can find Ms. Harvest by ourselves, Scott." Storm assured carefully. "Perhaps it would be better for you to stay at the hotel for today. That way, we can check up on Rouge also."

Cyclops attempted a protest. It was choked back with more coughs.

Kurt and Jean grimaced. How could he have gotten so sick so quickly? It wasn't possible! Not unless he had been standing naked in Antarctica during the winter, eating nothing but raw eggs and sushi…

Okay, so he'd be dead if that were the case. A bit of an exaggeration. _Whatever!_ An exaggeration didn't make the previous statement any less true—people and mutants don't just catch deadly coughs and hypothermia over the course of five minutes.

A waiter put the heaping plate of steaming nachos on the table and everyone helped themselves. Scott took a few nibbles, then just backed off. Jean glanced at him, concerned.

"Scott, Kurt and Storm are right. You need to get some rest." She said caringly. "When we're done, we'll take you back to the hotel and check on Rouge, then Kurt, Logan, Storm, and I will go try to find Zoey again."

Scott looked ready to argue, then he just gave up and nodded with a rather weak-sounding cough. Not violent. Weak. _Weak._ That wasn't a word ever used to described Cyclops. After only a few minutes of eating, Storm started writing out a check and told Jean and Kurt to take Scott back to the hotel, she and Logan would catch up with them in a few minutes. Jean and Nightcrawler agreed, then stood up. Kurt held out a hand to Scott, and as he rose he almost collapsed. Kurt was able to hold Cyclops up, but not without worrying Jean and Storm like no tomorrow.

"Sorry…" Scott uttered, getting back to his feet.

It seemed like it took hours to get back to the hotel, but it probably only actually took a few minutes. Jean unlocked the door and Kurt ported inside of the room, gently helping the now-delusional Cyclops onto the bed, fixing his glasses to make sure his hallucinations wouldn't burn down the hotel. Scott was _still_ shivering, so Kurt and Jean just piled on the blankets. Jean sat down on the bed beside him, putting a hand through her hair and staring at Scott lovingly. Kurt sighed and _bamfed_ into the other room, where he found Rouge getting up to see why everyone was back so early.

"Hey," She said. "Did you get Zoey? Where is she?"

Kurt just shook his head. "She teleported avay out of novhere. Ve don't know vhere she is." He explained with a shrug.

Rouge looked confused. "Then what are ya'll doin' back?"

"Scott got sick over zee course of like…three minutes!" Kurt said, exasperated. He threw his hands up in the air and took a few steps toward the window. "Really badly, too. He vouldn't stop shivering and coughing and now he's delusional."

"Ya don't say…"Rouge started. "Poor Scott…Do 'ya know what brought it on?" She questioned. Kurt just shook his head, Rouge groaned quietly.

"Vell, nevermind Scott. How are you feeling, Rouge? Any better?" He asked, worried for his teammates.

Rouge shrugged. "Ah guess so, but Ah think Ah should still stay here for now, Ah should be better by tomorrow." She said. Kurt pouted, then just nodded, shrugging his shoulders back and hanging his head. It was a little quiet without Rouge, and since Scott wasn't going to be with them anymore, it would be even more quiet. He never really talked to Jean as much as he probably should have, being on the same team and all.

Rouge went into the separate room to check on Scott, and Nightcrawler followed her. He was in a cold sweat, but covered with Goosebumps and still shivering. He twisted and turned in the covers, gasping and muttering incomprehensible phrases in a feverish fit. Jean had her hand laid across his forehead. Kurt bit his lip, worried at the site, but he tried to remain optimistic.

"Logan and Storm should be back soon," He started with a smile. "I'm sure they'll be able to help vith Scott." Scott let out a barely audible, helpless groan, and Jean just shook her head with a sigh and stood up. She walked over to the thermostat and raised it a little.

"I don't know what's wrong with him." Jean said quietly. "Nothing comes on that quickly. _Nothing_ does." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Kurt ported over and unlocked it, then pulled it open. Logan and Storm piled into the room, tugging off their coats and scarves and walked to Scott without saying a word to anyone else. Jean stood up and Ororo took her place beside Cyclops, looking concerned and also confused. She laid her hand on the sick mutant, unable to decipher what he was saying.

"He seems to have hypothermia." Storm started. "Though it is impossible. It is not cold enough outside, he wasn't out for a long enough amount of time, and he was dressed correctly for the weather. Also, hypothermia does not cause coughing nor, in most cases, delusions." She explained, noticing the mutant's hallucinations as well.

"In most cases." Rouge repeated. "Most cases are the cases of normal people, not mutants. Hypothermia doesn't cause coughing for _other_ people, but it could for mutants." She said, working over her idea. "It could explain the shivering."

Logan shrugged. "What do we got to lose? We ain't got much of a choice." He said, voice husky.

Storm nodded slowly. "Yes, you're right. Kurt—could you get some supplies for tea and soup from the lobby?" She requested.

"On it." Kurt said, thumb up. With that, the fuzzy blue elf disappeared. He rematerialized toward the bottom of a staircase that led to the lobby, not wanting to be seen teleporting. He hurried down the rest of the steps and the opened a door, making sure his image inducer was still on, then walked into the main room. He scanned over the place and found a little coffee station. At the station there was little powder packets of tea, hot chocolate, soup, and other stuff, and coffee supplies. Kurt swiped some tea and soup, and sprinted back to the stairwell, where he went back to the hotel room with a reverberating _bamf. _He reappeared outside of the door, not exactly what he had wanted, but close enough. Nightcrawler softly kicked the door a few times before Jean opened it and took some of the stuff out of his arms.

Logan was shirtless, and Jean and Storm and Rouge had changed into tank tops. It didn't immediately register in Kurt's mind how _hot_ it was in the room. He glanced at the thermostat as he walked past it—80 degrees. He groaned quietly as Jean poured some hot water, mixing one of the tea packets into it. The German shed his shirt as well, sitting down on a bench and wiping his forehead. He'd only been in the room for two minutes and was already overheating. Blue fur in an 80 degree room tended to do that to a person.

Scott wasn't delusional anymore, and he wasn't shivering. However, he still had himself wrapped tight in the blankets, so Kurt knew he was still cold. Jean walked over and set a tea on the nightstand next to Cyclops, and gently shook his shoulder.

"Scott," She whispered caringly. "Wake up, Scott. Can you hear me?"

Cyclops stirred. He sat up just a little bit and spoke, his voice raspy and barely a whisper. "What—"

"Don't talk." She muttered, lightly pushing him back down to the bed. Jean very, very slowly began to incline Scott's pillows, making him sit up just enough so he could drink and not hurt himself. Jean held the tea up to his lips and he drank it, his hands were the only part of him still shaking and he couldn't hold the drink himself.

"What happened? Was I knocked out or something?" Scott finally asked, voice quiet but not sounding as pathetic as it was before. Jean shook her head slowly, looking down.

"You got sick out of _nowhere. _You had me worried, Scott, you really did."

"You had _all_ of us vorried." Kurt said. Scott looked a bit embarrassed and glanced away.

"It's not like I did it on purpose, you don't have to be so—so…" Scott stopped and leaned back, eyes closed. Jean bit her lip in alarm, and Scott let out a barely audible moan. "… 'm tired." He whispered. Jean gently pushed some of his hair away from his face, then looked to Storm with concern.

"I am not surprised." Storm said. "Scott, you should rest. Rouge will be with you."

Kurt twisted uncomfortably. He had officially tuned everyone out and could only focus on the heat. The mutant stood up and went into the bathroom, where he grabbed the ice bucket. The ice had all melted. Nightcrawler groaned, annoyed, but splashed the water on his face anyway. He walked back into the room and stood next to Logan.

"I'm going vait in zee hallvay for a little vhile. Too hot." He said quietly to Wolverine, grabbing his shirt. Logan gave a nod and the German quickly made his way out into the hallway, pulling his shirt on and closing the door behind him. Kurt slid his back down the wall until he was in a sitting position propped up against it. He sighed with relief. While in the room he had started getting dizzy, and he thought that they X-Men had enough on their plate without Kurt getting heatstroke in the middle of winter…so he decided that waiting outside for a bit was the best thing to do. After ten minutes or so, Rouge opened the door and motioned Kurt to go back inside, so he did.

"Get dressed, elf, we're gonna go find the girl again." Logan said, throwing him a coat. Kurt nodded and started dressing, looking for his boots while doing so.

"Remember, Rouge. If either one of you gets worse or something goes wrong—call. If you feel up to it, e-mail Professor Xavier and tell him what happened and ask what should be done. Once Scott is no longer cold, please lower the temperature so neither of you overheat. Understood?" Storm asked.

"Got it." She replied. After everyone was bundled up and ready, the remaining team members headed to the door. Ororo, however, hesitated.

"Oh, and Rouge?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't leave the room. Nor Scott."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "I've got it, Storm."

With that, Logan, Ororo, Jean, and Kurt left the hotel yet again to locate the homeless mutant girl, with high hopes for success.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I WANT REVIEWS! I eat reviews. So if I don't get enough reviews, I'll be malnourished and die, and there'll be no more story.**

**Sorry for late update. I'm working on another, more popular fic, plus school's been bust and I have a cold. __ Plus writer's block.**

**Disclaimer: X-Men Evolution characters belong to Marvel. Zoey/Glitz belongs to moi.**

**Warning: VIOLENCE. SCARY/SAD SCENE. Some hints of both Kurtty and Kurt/Zoey. Mostly Kurt/Zoey since that was the intention. Also some Jean/Scott.**

**ENJOY, YOU SADISTIC FANFICTION READERS! XD**

**----**

"I told you already, I _don't want to go with you!"_ The girl shouted, nearly doubling over after doing so. She sat down on the floor, out of breath, the sparkles falling from her an indigo color instead of the multicolored mix they had been before.

Jean had found Zoey with her telepathy, locating her inside her theatre again. It didn't take long to get there, and Kurt had teleported the remaining team inside. Zoey had been playing a slow song on the piano, humming to it quietly, which of course ended within seconds of them entering. After a short, angry conversation, they reached the point where they were now.

Storm gently held the girl, one arm around her back and the other lightly gripping Zoey's arm. The teleporter looked uncomfortable for a moment and pulled away from Ororo, disappearing into purple diamond dust the moment they were no longer touching. Storm sighed and skimmed the area for Zoey.

She had appeared in the upper audience seats, staring down at them from the balcony. The girl stayed silent for a few moments, catching her breath and deep in thought. Kurt bit his lip, praying that they'd be able to save her…it didn't look like she was going to give in. Finally she asked, "Where is Scott?"

Jean opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. Kurt shrugged it off and crossed his arms. "He randomly got sick, but he should be okay. Vhy do you ask?"

Zoey looked grim. She stared into space, away from the X-Men, for a few minutes. "You need to go." She muttered, breaking her silence.

"Zoey, please listen—" Jean started.

"No, _you_ listen!" The girl snapped, teleporting down in front of Jean with a soft _chnng_ and an eruption of blood red and purple sparks. "I _told_ you I'm a jinx. Bad things happen to people I'm around. Don't deny it. First M—Rogue, and now Scott. Unexplained sickness for both of them, right? Came out of no where?" Everyone was silent. "I once met a mutant who could tell other mutants' powers just by looking at them. Bad luck isn't even part of my mutation—if I was human, I'd still be just as much of a curse. You _have_ to leave before someone gets _really_ hurt, or worse." Zoey demanded furiously.

"Come on, kid, stuff like that happens te ev'ryone." Logan stepped in.

"Bullshit." The girl growled. "What kind of _game_ do you think you're playing here?" Thirty razor-sharp diamond daggers formed in the air, pointing at the X-Men. Storm and Wolverine didn't even flinch, but Kurt and Jean both gasped, scrambling backward a few steps. "I could tear you to shreds. I _should."_

"But you won't." Storm said, looking right through the dagger army. "And you shouldn't. We're trying to help you. We trust you, Zoey, you are not going to hurt us…please, get rid of the knives, you have overdone your capacity of power for today…considering the circumstances, you should already be dead."

With that, the daggers faded into sparkling dust. Zoey dropped to her knees, gasping for breath but refusing to pass out. Kurt's heart beat quickly in his chest. For some reason, he _really_ wanted to be the one to help her, but Logan beat him to it. He kneeled down next to Zoey, placing his hand on her back, which she quickly scrambled away from.

"I'm not gonna hurt ya, Glitz."

Zoey looked up in surprise, still breathing heavily. "That's what my friends used to call me."

"Glitz?"

"Yeah."

"Not surprising. It may have escaped yer notice, but you do have a sparkling quality about ya."

She let out a quiet cough-laugh as Logan stood up and held a hand out, but she didn't take it and just tried to get up herself. She failed.

"I'm _not_ gonna hurt ya." Wolverine repeated, almost irritated. Zoey just shook her head.

"I know." She muttered. "It's just…" The girl trailed off, touching the spot on her arm where Storm had held her before. "I'm not used to it. It's been too long." She withdrew with a sigh.

"Bein' around people?"

"Being touched."

Another silence. Jean looked like she was about to cry, and Kurt didn't blame her. He felt the same way. Sure, Rogue had been on the streets for a while, as had Scott, but witnessing it firsthand was a little too much to bear. Zoey used one of the audience seats to lift herself up, breathing heavily.

"Look, Zoey, please come with us. You're dying, don't you see? You can't even use your powers without losing your breath." Jean said quietly. Zoey looked up.

"No. I'm out of breath after I use my powers even when I'm perfectly healthy." The girl explained. "The diamonds are made from air…_my_ air." She said. "If I were to over teleport or make too many diamonds, I'd suffocate." Zoey shrugged. "Every mutant has a downside to their power."

Kurt nodded. Rouge was a living example of that—when she first joined the team, she had so many memories and powers belonging to other people inside of her that she nearly destroyed everything. So was Scott—if someone took his glasses off, a giant red beam would shoot out of his eyes until he lost consciousness. Jean, too, would pass out if she used too much energy. As would Professor X and Storm. They weren't the only ones—Kurt himself would collapse if he teleported too far or too often. Using their powers was dangerous for everybody.

"Vell…either vay, ve still vould like you to come vith us." Kurt said softly.

"I—" Zoey started, but she stopped talking, looking confused. "What?"

_Stupid accent. _Why did no one ever understand him? Kurt gave an apologetic/exasperated look to Storm, who smiled and laughed quietly.

"He said, 'Well, either way, we still would like you to come with us.'" Storm translated.

"Ah." The girl said. "Well…look, I don't want to." Lie. "Trust me, you don't want me on your team, or anywhere near you, for that matter." Lie. "I'll just bring you down…I'm bad luck." Lie. "You saw what happened to…Rouge…and Scott." Not necessarily a lie, but not true either.

"That ain't true, kid, and ya know it." Logan huffed. "Ya want to come with us. Yer lonely and sick and upset and ya need help." The teleporter sat down in thought, not saying a word.

"By the way…" Storm started. "Forgive me for asking, Zoey, but what happened to your parents?"

Kurt and Jean gave Storm shocked looks. Way to ruin any chance they had! Then again…they _would_ have to ask eventually, and by the way the girl looked…it seemed like a 'now or never' question. Zoey sighed.

"They were mutants, too." She said. Kurt raised an eyebrow, he had never heard of that happening. Sure…it _must_ have, but he'd never heard of it. "They died when I was four years old."

"Oh…" Storm muttered. "I'm sorry." Zoey just shrugged. It seemed like she had had a rough life and that was the least of her worries. Kurt swiftly changed the subject, telling Zoey a little bit about Bayville High and Xavier's and all the good times they had. Jean told her about the Brotherhood and Magneto and what they did, and about some of the team members. They were there for another twenty minutes or so before the team finally decided that it was enough for the day.

After Kurt teleported the dwindling team outside, he sighed. Christmas Eve was in _three_ days. It was already December 22nd. They were seriously running out of time if they wanted to be home for Christmas…and what about Zoey? On the slight chance that she went with the team, the majority of them would be missing for a few days and she'd be pretty much alone. How was _that_ going to work?

When they got back to the hotel, Scott and Rouge were both completely fine. Rouge guessed that she had some 24-hour bug and no one had any idea what Scott's deal was, except for the off chance that he had a random bout of undue hypothermia, which they would ask the professor about when they got back to the institute. _If_ they got back. At this rate, Zoey was never going to leave, which means they wouldn't either. Would Professor X _really_ make them stay? Would he be that cruel? Kurt guessed that he probably wouldn't and _couldn't_, since he'd likely get in trouble when Kurt didn't show up in Germany on Christmas and when Jean was chasing after some mutant when she should have been with her family. Parents don't like their kids being held hostage.

They rest of the day went slowly. Storm typed up another report e-mail to Xavier, telling him about Scott and Rouge and, of course, their lack of progress with Zoey—but Storm fluffed it up a little bit so it didn't sound that hopeless. Kurt just played video games with the recovering Scott (who had actually started over heating because the room was too hot…go figure.) while Jean _very_ carefully painted Rouge's nails. Logan had once again gone out to a bar. For dinner, everyone was still a little panicked about Scott so they all just ordered room service. Later on, Kurt and Jean went out for some last-minute Christmas shopping, getting some small souvenirs for their family (And in Kurt's case, for Kitty), bringing their cell phones with them and demanding Storm that she call if anything went wrong. It was around eleven p.m. when the two mutants made it back to the hotel, and Scott was already asleep. The day had been pretty rough on him and took a lot of energy. He'd be staying in the room tomorrow. Rouge was in bed, but just reading a book. Storm was writing another e-mail, this time to her sister, apologizing to her and Evan that she wasn't home yet and might miss Christmas. Nightcrawler started watching _Bones_ for about half an hour before he decided to go to sleep as well, since Ororo and Jean had already climbed into bed and he was the only one awake. Hey, they called him "Nightcrawler" for more than one reason, you know.

After he brushed his teeth and had changed his clothes, Kurt got into bed and turned off the TV. He fell asleep relatively fast, and for the first time in quite a while, he had a nightmare.

_It was January fourth, and the X-Men were sprinting down the streets of New York. Shadowcat and Spyke had now joined them. Kurt's heart was racing, and he noted that he was panicked. He couldn't quite remember why…_

_Scott was shivering uncontrollably and Rouge had gotten a headache again. Jean started having Scott's symptoms, and Logan was edgier than usual. There was two feet of snow and Storm couldn't stop the blizzard no matter how hard she tried. Kurt was starting to get dizzy for unexplained reasons, and Jean was muttering something in a horrified frenzy._

_"Please be wrong, please be wrong, please let my telepathy be wrong, oh…please be wrong…" She whispered repeatedly. _

_The team arrived in front of the old, abandoned theatre. Everyone swiftly grabbed onto Kurt. He tried to teleport inside, but he couldn't do it. They ended up in the middle of the road. Thankfully there was no one around to see. His friends were all angry and disappointed in him, and went back to the door. Wolverine's claws sheathed out and he knocked down the door. Nightcrawler still couldn't remember what was going on, but if it was bad enough for everyone to be annoyed at him over a failed teleport and enough to make Logan tear down a door instantaneously, without asking Kurt again or asking Kitty, it must have been bad._

_The theatre was pitch black. Jean used her telekinesis to find the flashlight and bring it to her. She began to shine the flashlight around, frantically calling out Zoey's name with everyone else. After a few minutes, the light finally fell on something on the floor._

_A black diamond. Kurt leaned over and touched it. It did not disappear. It did not burst into a thousand particles of majestic confetti. It remained in its form. Slowly, slowly, Jean moved the light a little to the left. There, lie a young girl—skin and bone, ghostly white, eyes closed, hair brittle, unmoving. No sparkles _emitting_ from her, just a few hundred indigo and black pieces lying on the ground around her. Kurt gasped, Kitty screamed. Logan turned away. Scott and Jean were holding each other in an instant._

_A crash._

_Nightcrawler turned around. Behind him was Pietro, Blob, Lance, Toad, and even Mystique and Pyro. Some of them were shocked—some disgusted._

_"You stupid X-Freaks kill that girl?" Avalanche growled._

_"N-No, we—she…" Kurt stammered, but he couldn't speak. Dizzy. Scared. Upset._

_"There goes Magneto's plan." Pyro grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Let's just get rid of these guys now, save us the trouble for later."_

_"I concur." Mystique hissed._

_With that, Kurt was pinned to the ground. Quicksilver was on top of him. He tried to through him off, but he couldn't. Pietro began punching Kurt senseless. The ground shook, and he saw flames being shot toward Scott and Jean. Spikes flew through the air. So did Toad. Wolverine was fighting Blob. Storm was held against the wall by…another Wolverine. Quicksilver's hands wrapped around Nightcrawler's neck, and he struggled to no avail, Pietro's grip only tightening. Logan called out to him, and suddenly Blob was standing over Kurt with Pietro. Blob pulled his arm backward slowly, and dropped his fist onto Nightcrawler's head._

_"_Kurt!"_ Wolverine yelled. Was that the first time he'd called him by name?_

_Kurt felt himself fading. Blob pulled back for another punch, this time to the chest. He felt his ribs snap, and he cried out—_

"—Kurt, wake up, kid!" Someone was shaking him. The teleporter shot up with a gasp. He almost fell back again, gripping his side, but he stopped himself.

"_Ach mein Gott! Hilfe!"_

"English, elf! Calm down!" It was Logan. "What's wrong?"

Kurt leaned back, eyes wide, taking a few seconds to catch his breath. "Nur ein Albtraum." He muttered. Nightcrawler ran a three-fingered hand through his hair, exhaling quietly. "J-just a bad dream." Just a dream. The _pain_ had been real.

"Some dream." Scott said, one eyebrow raised. He had been kneeling next to Kurt on the side of his bed. Realizing this, he looked around and saw that Storm was in the room too, Jean and Rouge standing in the doorway of the connected room. They all had the same concerned looks on that they had when Scott first started coughing.

"Ja." Kurt whispered, eyes still wide with fear and heart beating fast.

"I saw it." Jean said. Kurt nodded numbly. She had probably woken up after dream-Jean had clung to dream-Scott after finding hopefully dream-Zoey. And Wolverine probably wouldn't have said anything in the dream if he hadn't in real life. Nightcrawler sighed.

"You don't think…?"

"Checked already." Jean responded, interrupting him but already knowing what the question was. "She's fine. It was just a dream, Kurt. When someone dies in a dream, it's supposed to be good luck…"

He had heard that before. Sure—someone dying in a dream usually never meant death to come in real life, but it _certainly_ was _not_ good luck.

"…And I highly doubt that the Brotherhood would _ever_ get the upper hand over us." She continued.

Well, that part was true, at least. It also got rid of his 'Jean waking up' theory. "Ja, you're right." He said. "Sorry for vaking all of you."

Rouge shrugged. "Don't matter much. Logan would have woken us up anyways. Heck, he would have woken the dead. Stop comin' back so late." She said bitterly, turning to Wolverine, who rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He said. "Now ev'ryone, go back te sleep. We've got a busy day t'morrow. " He flipped off the lights before anyone had even started to move, so they all stumbled back to their beds.

Kurt slumped back onto his bed, breathing quietly and trying to clear his head. After a few minutes, exhausted, the teleporter fell back into a fitful sleep.

* * *

A/N: Gah! This fic is having some major issues! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! I can't even find the damn fic when I search for it!


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n: Computer's fixed! :D yay!**

**Disclaimer: I own Glitz/Zoey, and…the plot. That's it.**

**Warnings: VIOLENCE. Plus, this is one of the 'Comic-Kurt's Catholicism shines through in the X-Men:Evolution version of Kurt' chapters. It's only, like, one paragraph, but still. I'm not trying to convert anyone, I'm not even Catholic. xD. Oh, and two near deaths and…violence. :D**

**ENJOY, YOU SADISTIC X-MEN LOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

December 23rd. Christmas Eve-Eve. Kurt woke up with a start, and the first thing he saw was a rather concerned, large gruff man staring at him with worried eyes.

"Jeez, elf, ye were tossin' an' turnin' all night. Y'alright?" Logan questioned.

Nightcrawler nodded numbly. "Vhat a night…" He grumbled. "I feel like I didn't sleep at all!"

Logan rolled his eyes and stood up, taking a few steps toward the closet, which he which he swiftly opened. Kurt swung his legs to the side of the bed and stretched as Wolverine hurriedly took out his jacket as well as Kurt's, which he tossed to the unsuspecting mutant. Kurt barely caught it in time.

"Hey, vhat's the rush?" Nightcrawler asked with a yawn as he slipped on his jacket.

The man growled. "Jean sensed that the Brotherhood is with Zoey…she thinks they're gonna fight."

If Kurt wasn't covered in blue fur, he would have gone pale. "_Vas?!"_ His dream flashed back to him, and he slapped his own wrist, yet did not wake up. There was nothing to wake up _from_, this time it was really happening. Jean walked in at that moment and sat down next to Kurt.

"He said I _think_ they are _going_ to fight. Not that I know they are fighting. We have time, its not an emergency." Jean explained with a soft smile. "Calm down, Kurt, it's alright."

Nightcrawler sighed as Storm and Rogue entered the room. Kurt looked behind him and saw that Scott was awake, but still in bed, though he was starting to get up. Logan growled at him.

"Just what do ya think yer doin', kid?" Wolverine interrogated.

Scott smiled sheepishly. "I feel fine now, Logan, I want to help."

"Yer leavin' that bed over my dead body." Logan retorted gruffly. "Go back te sleep. We don't need ya gettin' sick again." Cyclops groaned and opened his mouth to speak, but Storm interrupted him.

"Logan—perhaps Scott is right." She said. _Vas?!_ "We may need all the help we can get…plus, if we leave him here, we'll need someone else to stay here as well. It may simply be easier to take Scott with us."

A very, very long silence. Jean looked indifferent, Rogue looked a little unconvinced, Kurt was staring at Storm like she had lost her mind, Logan looked pissed—but he also looked like he agreed, whether he liked it or not—and Scott tried to look innocent and hopeful.

"Whatever." Logan huffed. "He gets sick again, it's on _your_ head."

Scott immediately jumped out of bed and ran over to the closet to grab three different jackets. There was no way he was going to get hypothermia _this_ time. Jean laughed quietly as she put some gloves on.

Kurt didn't like it _one_ bit. Surely, he thought, this was the stupidest idea in the history of stupid ideas. Scott should be in bed, as should Rogue, and Kurt should already be with Zoey, ready to fight. Yet here they were, not even out of the room yet. Nightcrawler began getting ready at an alarmingly fast pace. Jean and Rogue both trying to calm him down, but it just wouldn't work, Kurt was absolutely panicked.

The team was out the door within two minutes, on to street within five. The telepath took a moment to locate Zoey, and then they started off toward a street they hadn't been on before. Not exactly a run, but too fast to be called power walking. The team sort of went in a slow jog.

"Ah just hope she's alright…" Rogue said quietly, a gloved hand held up to her face in an attempt to get warmer. Kurt, after seeing this, checked to make sure that Scott wasn't cold. If anything was going to happen to Scott today, it'd be heat stroke, with his three jackets, turtleneck, fuzzy hat, two pairs of gloves, four pairs of socks under padded boots, a scarf and underarmor underneath his heavy jeans. It wasn't even that cold outside.

"Me too," Scott agreed with a sigh as they crossed the busy street.

They took a few more steps after they reached the other side of the road before Jean froze for a moment, her eyes closed. The rest of the team waited patiently until her eyes once again shot open. Jean looked worried as she finally spoke.

"They're fighting. We've got to hurry—in her condition, there's no way that she'll take more than a few hits."

Logan sniffed the air with a hushed growl, and then took off. The other members of the team instantaneously followed him in a brisk sprint, Kurt becoming horrified. He hoped that it wouldn't be a bad-dream repeat.

Wolverine led the team back to the same alleyway just in time to see Zoey thrown against a brick wall by Fred Dukes, who had a gaping bloody hole in his right arm, which he gripped the instant he no longer had the girl. Fred moaned in agony, trying to stop the bleeding.

Kurt took half of a second to view the scene. It didn't look anything like a fair fight. Zoey looked like she was going to pass out at any second as she slowly collected herself and stood up again, thoroughly out of breath. Lance, Pietro, and Todd all seemed livid, and had cuts similar to Fred's in various places. Kurt safely assumed that said cuts came from Zoey's diamond powers. They stood, glaring at the mutant girl with a mix of fear and hatred.

A red beam flashed across the alleyway.

_Nice, Scott, _Kurt thought. _Forgotten ve're in zee City, have you?_

The Brotherhood and Glitz all turned to face the X-Men in shock, Logan let out a roar and the fight began. It was mostly a physical fight, since Scott and Storm couldn't use their powers in such a populated area (though the alleyway was actually quite secluded from the rest of the city), but Kurt and Rogue and Wolverine were able to use theirs. Jean didn't bother; she just ran over to Zoey. Nightcrawler wanted to check up on her, too, but there was another, more pressing matter at hand.

Kurt 'ported directly behind Toad and kicked his upper back, sending the boy flying a few feet away with a shriek of terror before crashing into a well-placed garbage can. The irony of it made the German chuckle. Scott and Storm threw Lance in the same general direction, and once Avalanche sat up he immediately pulled out his phone, and after Wolverine had knocked out Blob, Kurt knew it was over.

Then, all of the sudden, he found himself pinned to the ground. Pietro stood above him, hands wrapped around the teleporter's neck.

That scared him. That scared him _a lot._ His dream flashed back and Kurt instantaneously began struggling with everything he had. Every time he'd manage to throw Quicksilver off, he'd get right back on again before Nightcrawler could port away. Kurt's grip on Pietro's arms grew tighter as his vision began to blur.

Someone called out to the blue mutant and, abruptly, Pietro yelled and dropped to the ground. Nightcrawler gasped for air and saw above him Rogue, one of her gloves pulled off and held in her other hand.

Rogue held out her gloved hand to Kurt, which he gratefully took. "Y'alright, Kurt?" She asked caringly.

He brushed a hand through his hair, still out of breath. "Ja." He said, exasperated. "Thanks, Rogue."

With that, Toad and Avalanche hurriedly collected Pietro, revived Fred and made a run for it. Attention turned to Zoey, whose hands were clasped over her mouth, her wide eyes staring, horrified, at Kurt and Rogue.

"…Zoey?" Jean addressed cautiously, her hand gently resting on the girl's shoulder.

Glitz pulled away from her touch and staggered backward toward the street. "I—" She started, contact not broken from the two mutants. "_I'm sorry_!" Then she was gone, leaving nothing but an explosion of blue disappearing confetti in her place.

Kurt let out a hushed groan and leaned against the nearest wall, sliding his back down it until he was sitting on the ground. He slid his hands down his face with a sigh, a little shaken by the events.

Cyclops shook his head. "There's no way she's gonna make it. After a three-on-one fight, in her condition, and a teleport to who-knows-where?" He said. "It's hopeless."

"I'm afraid…that may very well be so, Scott." Storm admitted as she stared into space.

Logan grumbled to himself and began walking, hands shoved in his pockets. Rogue blinked.

"Wait—shouldn't we at least go after the Brotherhood or somethin'? They can't be far, and they might know more than we do." She suggested, for some reason that Kurt could not identify, she almost sounded desperate.

"Seems like we don't really have another choice right now. Zoey's not going to want to see us again today. Kurt scared the hell out of her." Jean replied sadly as she began walking behind Logan.

"Vas?!" Kurt asked loudly. "Vhy me?"

"No—No, Kurt, that's not what Jean meant." Scott assured as he took a few steps forward. "After Pietro got you, Zoey sort of…panicked."

"She probably feels as if the entire fight were her fault, and she was afraid you would get hurt." Storm added.

Kurt looked down at his feet, somewhat embarrassed that he had let Quicksilver get the better of him. The remainder of the team ran a few steps to catch up with Jean and Wolverine, then set out to find the cowardly Brotherhood and find out what the hell just happened.

*~*

Logan had Lance pinned against a wall. It hadn't taken long to find the boys, and much less time to convince them to talk. They were such cowards, accepting everyone as their superior if it meant not getting hurt. All it took was a couple of empty threats to get Avalanche to say:

"Alright! Alright! I'll talk, just put me down, please!"

With that, Wolverine sets the mutant down. Lance smoothes out his shirt with a huff, then crosses his arms and looks to the side.

"There wasn't really any _specific_ thing going on with her. Magneto just wants her on his side, 'cause she's powerful and upset, and he thought that he could use her anger to trick her into joining us." He explained quietly. "Thought she'd be easy to bribe. He wants her power before you X-Freaks get it."

Logan growled. "What's Magneto got on her?"

Lance bit his lip, unsure if he should answer. Rogue began to remove her glove, making a big show of it so he'd notice.

He instantly backed up. "Okay, okay! Jeez." He said, putting his hands up. Lance sighed. "He promised to bring back one of her dead friends. She didn't buy it, though."

Scott crossed his arms, looking livid to say the least. "How exactly did Magneto intend on _doing_ that?" He demanded. Avalanche shrugged.

"That, I dunno. He'd probably have Mystique do something or just not go through with it."

Kurt was furious. "Do you _realize_ vhat you've _done!?"_ He commanded, accent thick with his anger. "She could be _dead_ now because of you!" He actually lunged forward as he spoke, both Storm and Scott held him back, but he continued to struggle so Rogue had to hold him back too. (Gloves on, of course.)

Lance was backed up against the wall, looking frightened and also ashamed. He shook his emotions off, and stared angrily at the concrete ground.

"Kurt, calm down!" Scott hissed. "You're starting to scare us!"

"Calm down?!" Nightcrawler repeated. "_Calm down_?! I—" He stopped, frustrated with a loss for words. "…Nnih!" Kurt teleported away the instant he broke free of his friends' grip.

He found himself on the next street over, the team and Lance just barely in sight. The elf fled quickly before they looked in his direction, and stopped running once he reached the steps of an abandoned, run-down apartment building with a padlock on the door.

"Oh," The German groaned as he plopped down onto the stairs. Why was he so…_dizzy?_ He'd probably overdone it today, what with barely sleeping that night and fighting the Brotherhood and teleporting so often over the past few days, long distances and through walls, plus with all the stress of Rogue and Scott and, of course, Zoey…who was officially the only thought going through his mind.

She couldn't _actually_ be dead, because Jean would have said so. Plus, it just wasn't possible. The world didn't work that way. Teenaged girls do not die of starvation. They just don't.

…

Kurt buried his face in his hands. He was getting desperate now, and knew it. What was _wrong_ with him?

"Get it together, you fuzzy blue teleporter!" He muttered to himself. Sure—his life had been hard. Very hard. But he'd never seen anyone right before they died, and his usually happy-go-lucky ways were just unreachable at the moment. Zoey was bothering him _that_ much. And she wasn't even dead yet.

Nightcrawler clasped his hands together and…prayed. It had been a while, since he'd joined the X-Men, that he'd asked God for anything. Yeah, he'd _prayed_, but not pleaded. Now he pleaded. He pleaded that the mutant girl would be alright, he pleaded to know how to help her.

If you've ever been legitimately stressed out—as in, an all out mental break down or a panic attack—then you know that the more you _think_ about your stress, the worse it becomes. Kurt, having never had this problem with the exception of being made fun of as a child, did _not_ know that.

So, when he finally tried to shrug it off, took a deep breath and stand up even though he _knew_ it had gone to far just to be 'shrugged off', the street was suddenly where the sky should have been and vice versa. He swayed unsteadily as he tried to regain his bearings.

What was _wrong_ with him? Did he catch whatever Rogue and Scott had? Or something entirely different? Was he just overworking himself?

The German groaned. He had more important things to think about, he didn't have time for this. He decided that teleporting always cheered him up, always cleared his head. So he teleported. Across the street and back. On top of the roof. By the streetlight. Over and over again.

On the fourteenth teleport he realized a little too late how stupid that was, and his knees buckled out underneath him from the exertion. Kurt's head spun in a blur, he was in pain and he was hearing voices—the same voices from his dream and the real fight. The blur that he saw grew darker and darker until everything was finally all black…

…and the next thing Nightcrawler knew, he was lying in his hotel bed, and surrounded by his teammates.


	5. Chapter 5

**FYI: I know Kurt's a bit OOC for this chapter. He **_**may**_** be next chapter as well. It's hard to get the outcome that I want with him being completely in character. Let's face it—even real people have ooc moments, so why can't Kurt? It's not too bad, just deal with it until I can find a better way to have him preach and be hyper at the same time.**

**Review Note:** If you're reviewing anonymously, make sure it's either a praise or _constructive _criticism, not flames. If you're not reviewing anonymously, feel free to flame because then I can explain myself.

Now that that's been said…

**A/N:** All will be revealed in time. It may not make sense now, but it will! And I'm soooo sorry—my computer got another virus! But not to worry—every last virus is gone, and I got new, better protection, so there shouldn't be any more. Oh, and I am aware that I misspelled Rogue in the second chapter quite a few times. I made sure not to do it in the following chapters after someone kindly told me. I don't need any more reminders, thank you.

ALSO. If there's any character in this chapter that you haven't seen yet and gets you suspicious—he/she has nothing to do with this story.

…However, who's to say he/she won't make a cameo in one of my future tales? *evil threatening music* Ahem.

**Warnings: Religious views voiced rather strongly (Even though I'm not Catholic xD), maybe some cursing. KurtxGlitz**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Glitz and…Kurt's heart! (No, just kidding…Kurt's heart and the rest of him all belong to Marvel. ;_; )**

**And now…on with the fic! (Don't forget to review!)**

Kurt groaned. How the _hell_ did he get _here?_

He tried to sit up, but it just didn't work out that well. Jean gently helped him back down to his laying position, making him feel helpless. He noted that his image inducer was off, and wondered how long he'd been out for. The sun was starting to set, so he figured it must have been a while. The room was absolutely silent, giving it an eerie feel.

"…Are you alright?" Jean asked quietly, concern evident in her eyes.

"Ja." He whispered, unable for the moment to manage any more than that.

"You scared the hell out of us, Kurt." Scott added, arms crossed. Kurt gave him a weak, sheepish smile and tried again to prop himself up. It worked this time, but it made him really tired.

"Vhat…vhat happened?" The German asked softly.

"You passed out," Scott replied with a frown.

"Vell, ja, I got _zat_ much."

"You over-worked yourself. You did too many teleports, plus that thing with Pietro, on top of all of the stress, _and_ you got practically no sleep last night." Jean explained.

"Oh." Nightcrawler muttered. "Sorry."

"Why'd ya run off like that before, Kurt?" Rogue asked, worried. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, and she looked pretty tired herself. Kurt guessed that none of them had left his side since he'd gotten back to the hotel—however he'd done that.

He closed his eyes in concentration. "Don't remember…" He murmured, sounding almost pained. "I think I vas just upset."

Rogue glanced toward Jean, who nodded. The teleporter was telling the truth.

Then, suddenly, Kurt realized. His eyes shot open again and he looked desperately toward Scott and Storm. "Vhat happened to Zoey? Is she still…?"

Storm nodded, not wanting Kurt to need to finish his sentence. "Yes, Jean senses that she is weak but, remarkably, alive. But Kurt, you must accept that we are running out of time. We have an extremely slim chance of saving her…you mustn't fret."

Kurt blinked, thinking for a moment. There _had_ to be a quick way to convince her—but how? Surely God had a plan for this girl that didn't involve her dying before she even graduated high school—hmm.

Oh. Now _that._ Was a good plan. Great plan. If it didn't work, it probably wouldn't mess Zoey up too much. It was an idea if there ever was one. He smiled slightly.

Kurt swung his legs over the bed and started to stand up, but Logan held him back.

"Just where do ya think _you're_ goin', elf?"

The mutant smiled sheepishly in reply. "I have an idea, I vant to go out for a bit."

Wolverine growled. "Not in this condition, yer not."

"I feel much better now, honest!" He pleaded. "I'll only be out for a little vhile."

"That's bullshit, Kurt, and you know it!" Scott accused. "We don't need you passing out again—"

Nightcrawler rolled his eyes and interrupted him. "Oh, now you're just being a hypocrite!" Suddenly, Scott went silent and Kurt went on. "I really think this vill vork. I promise I von't teleport."

_Everyone_ looked ready to protest. "Please," Kurt said. "You have to trust me."

Storm's potential argument turned into a sigh, and everyone turned to look at her. They knew what she was going to say.

"Storm, are you nuts?" Scott asked, exasperated. Jean and Rogue both agreed, but Logan just stayed in an angry silence as usual.

"What is a team without trust?" Ororo asked quietly. Everyone but Kurt and herself groaned. "Kurt—you _must_ not teleport. You must not take more than half an hour. And if you feel even remotely ill—you _must_ call one of us to get you. Do you promise?"

Kurt didn't like the conditions at all, but he had no choice. "Alright." He said. Storm handed him his image inducer and he hurriedly put it on, his form changing from fuzzy blue elf to non-fuzzy handsome teen. Scott and Rogue backed up as Kurt got off of the bed and grabbed his jacket, slipping on some boots at the same time.

"Be careful, Kurt." Jean warned as he reached for the door.

Nightcrawler gave her a big grin and a wave, and then he was gone. He started to run down the hallway and then realized how incredibly idiotic that was and slowed down to a walk once he reached the elevator. No stairs this time…too much work. He pressed the lobby button and leaned against a wall, listening somewhat impatiently to the elevator music.

On the second floor, a girl—about two years younger than he was—came onto the elevator. She was extremely beautiful and exotic…electric blue eyes, warm tanned skin, and beach blonde hair with soft waves. She looked like a model. Like she belonged in Hawaii or Bermuda of Jamaica, and was extremely out of place in the city.

Kurt tensed and bit his lip as the girl looked him from feet to head, smiled at him with a wink, and stepped off of the elevator one floor down. Kurt's heart raced as he smiled dreamily.

"_Voah."_ He muttered.

After the elevator reached the lobby, Kurt stumbled off and snapped himself back into reality. He had business to attend to.

It took a few minutes for Kurt to completely get his plan straight and exit the hotel. He had his mental map clear in his head, and was now familiar with the streets he had traveled over the past few days. Nightcrawler began to make his way toward Zoey's abandoned theatre, looking in the decorated stores on his way there. "Silver Bells" was playing in the background of the streets, and for once, the majority of the New Yorkers looked absolutely cheerful. The song began to fade away as Kurt reached the less populated, run-down streets.

When he finally arrived at the theatre, Kurt realized that his promise not to teleport was…potentially problematic. He glared at the padlocked, boarded-over door.

Eh. One little teleport wouldn't hurt.

Kurt ported into the theatre with a soft bamf, scarcely getting dizzy afterward. Zoey was, not so shockingly, playing her eerie, dust-covered piano, but this time she didn't stop or even look when Kurt came in. She just continued to play a song that he recognized as "Where are you, Christmas?", and Kurt vaguely wondered how many hours she had just been sitting there playing music for. The German slowly stepped over to her, and just stood behind the girl for a few minutes as she played the song out until she finally spoke.

"What do you want, Kurt?" Zoey asked unenthusiastically, not stopping her song.

He was caught off guard by her bluntness. "To talk," He stammered. She turned her head slightly and shot him a look of disdain, then turned back toward her music. Kurt mustered up his courage and hoped for the best. "Are you religious?"

She did not respond, but Kurt noticed that she began to play something else, and after a beautiful transition, she was suddenly playing "The First Noel".

"I'll take zat as a 'yes'?"

"I was raised Christian."

The tone made her answer unconvincing. "But are you still?"

"Kinda."

"Kinda?"

"Yup."

"I don't really understand…"

"I don't doubt that there's a God. And I don't doubt that said God hates me."

Kurt's mouth fell open a little bit. Yeah, yeah, he'd heard of people thinking that. He'd encountered them before. He'd even been one of them, a while back, and his surprise was a little hypocritical. He bit his lip, thinking of something to say or do, then he slowly placed his hand on her bony shoulder.

The music died out and she turned around.

Zoey shrugged away from his touch, still not completely accustomed to it. But it wasn't instantaneous this time, she didn't flinch instantly. She slowly took her shoulder back, and met his eyes with her hollow golden ones.

"He loves everyone, Zoey, even you. No one could hate _you." _Said Nightcrawler.

Waaaaait a minute. What is _that?_ She's tucking her hair behind her ears, her eyes quickly shooting back to her piano, biting her lip and…is she _blushing?_ She muttered something along the lines of 'you just met me, how could you know?', but Kurt ignored her.

"Zee Bible tells us zat He loves the vorld. And ve must preserve life. Vhat are you doing? You're throwing your life away by not going vith us." What, was he a preacher now? "You don't eat, zee Brotherhood is after you, you're depressed and lonely, and zee vorst part is zat you _know_ it. And you don't care. Is this some kind of indirect suicide?"

The girl froze; Kurt guess he had the wrong choice of words. Or did he? Was it just that his guess was _exactly_ her intention? Indirect suicide? Not killing herself, but not striving to live either?

"I'm just gonna be uncharacteristically stereotypical for a second and assume that you're Catholic?"

A beat of silence, then a miracle. They both burst into uncontrollable laughter. They laughed and laughed. Well, that wasn't Kurt's original plan, but hey, it worked, didn't it?

Whoops. That probably jinxed it.

After a while, the laughter died out, and Zoey looked weak from the exertion. Yes, even laughing takes energy.

"Yes, I'm a Catholic. And you?" He finally replied.

"Don't remember. I might have been non-discriminatory." She answered with a slight shrug, her voice shaking but not scared.

Kurt had never even heard of that. Whatever. "I guess you haven't been to Church in a while, huh?"

Zoey raised an eyebrow and looked down at her raggy clothing, touched a strand of her almost matted hair. "Churches…are kinda formal. And are closely associated with charity."

Nightcrawler rolled his eyes. "Again vith zee charity? Look, at zee moment ve're all staying past Christmas Eve, vould you like to go to zee service at St. Patrick's vith us?"

Her answer was instant. "I'm sorry. No. You…you have to go."

He groaned. "Zoey, please—" Damn. He was making such progress.

"Go away; let me be."

Idea! The mutant stared down at his feet an grew quiet and solemn. "I'm…sorry." He whispered. "I'm only trying to help you. I don't like knowing that someone's hurt, when there's something I can do about it…" Her head shot up, and Kurt slowly turned toward the door. "I'll just go, then. I don't vant to, but I vill." He slowly trudged down the aisle, making his way toward the exit that he was not looking forward to teleporting through.

Step. Step.

"Kurt—wait."

Success!

He stopped and turned around; Zoey wasn't looking in his direction. "…Are you…alright? You got hurt in the fight…" The girl trailed off, brushing a hand through her hair.

Kurt sighed. He didn't have to be a genius to know how worried about the battle she was. "We fight _all_ the time. It's nothing new…I'm perfectly fine."

She looked away and began to play another song, and Kurt knew that she didn't buy it and was done talking to him. This time he walked at a regular pace toward the exit and Zoey didn't stop him. He teleported through the door and after he was outside, he smiled to himself. It would be extremely cheesy, but he knew _just_ what to do for her.

Nightcrawler quickly searched through the city for an open place to buy what he wanted. It took a bit longer than he expected and it took a while to get back to the theatre. When he teleported inside, Zoey was asleep in one of the upper levels of seats. Kurt quietly walked over to the piano and place his two gifts on it, along with a little note, then went back to the hotel to rest.

-----------------

Zoey woke up on Christmas Eve in her usual sleeping spot, clinging to her lone corduroy messenger bag with her only possessions: a picture of her family, a simple silver ring, a gold twine-like bracelet, a gold locket that she couldn't open, a few quarters, a cigarette lighter (she didn't smoke, it was so she could see), a wooden brush, and an old, floppy, purple suede stuffed rabbit that she just _couldn't_ get rid of or sleep without. She had a toothbrush, too, but no toothpaste; she kept it in the theatre's bathroom. It wasn't until Zoey had put on her three pieces of jewelry that she even had the slightest will to get up.

She was about to teleport down to the pit, where her piano was, but she thought the better of it and decided to take the stairs. The bad thing about the theatre was that there was no windows, and obviously the electricity had been shut down, so Zoey had to maneuver her way around her home in the dark until she found and lit some of her candles. The teleporter sighed a few indigo sparkles, and noticing the sparkles' dwindling number, she groaned aloud.

When Glitz was finally at her piano, she saw something.

The girl reached out and grabbed two objects, staring at them incomprehensibly. With them, a note was attached:

_Zoëy, _She laughed quietly at the Germanic spelling. _Maybe you ought to give Him a second chance. Kurt Wagner. P.s…this is a Christmas present, not charity._

She held the Bible and the sparkling white, rainbow-throwing Rosary beads in her hands in silence…and refused to cry.


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: Oh, I really hate this fic. I REALLY hate this fic. There's parts that I want to write but I have to go through all of this other stuff before I can write that. Don't get me wrong, this chapter shouldn't sound rushed, but…JEEZ!_

_Apologies: Man. This freaking chapter. Is late. Is SOOO late. I was supposed to have it done a few days before Christmas to have you all in the spirit. Oh, well._

_PLEASE REVIEW!_

_Disclaimer: I own Zoey and that's it. Oh, I also own New York. Just because no one can sue me for writing that. YOU DON'T OWN THE CITY, BLOOMBERG!_

_Anyway, onto Zoey!_

_-----------------_

Kurt was disappointed in the morning when he found that Jean had made no attempt of finding Zoey yet and wouldn't attempt any time that day. It was Christmas Eve. Today they were going to relax, exchange gifts, watch _A Christmas Story,_ and go to a church service. The end. Unless Zoey changed her mind and thought it loudly, she was not part of their plan. Jean wasn't even going to see if Kurt's gift had even made a slight impact.

Around eleven, Storm went out and got some food for everyone. Gingerbread and muffins and hot chocolate and coffee and tea, rolls of every kind, powdered sugar, some scrambled eggs from a restaurant, a few paninis. The excessive amount of delicious food was enough to wake even Logan.

After a short but fun conversational and family-like breakfast, the cell phones were on and people began calling their families and friends. Scott and Rogue spoke only to the Professor and a few other friends from school. Storm called her sister and together, they decided that on Christmas day, the mission team would go over to Evan's house and celebrate there after the final Zoey attempt.

Yes, it would be the last try, according to the Professor. If the team couldn't convince her the next day, then Xavier would step in and do everything in his power to convince her on December 26th. After that, it would be too late. It already _was_ too late. Even if Zoey randomly showed up at the hotel _right now,_ she'd need to be fed intravenously. Yeah, like that was going to happen. She didn't trust them as is. She was definitely going to let them stick a couple of syringes in her arm.

Kurt let out a half sigh after he hung up with his disappointed parents. He had told them that he would not be home for Christmas, but they had understood.

Despite being surrounded by his closest friends on Christmas Eve, Kurt felt lonely. Very lonely. He guessed that he must have been missing Kitty and Evan and the Professor and his parents. Yes, surely, they must have been the only people who he was missing…

He sat down on his bed, feeling a little defeated. He knew he had to detach himself from Zoey, because they weren't going to convince her, and she was going to die in a few days. Why be upset? Kurt tried his hardest not to think about her.

…

Jean really _should_ check on her, just in case. After all, if Jean wasn't listening in, they'd have no way to tell if Mystique or Magneto had gone after her again, and they wouldn't be able to help her. Or maybe if—

"_Kurt._"

He turned and saw Jean standing over him, her arms crossed and looking genuinely irritated. He smiled apologetically, sheepishly shrugging his shoulders. Jean let out a long exhale and sat down next to him while the others stared at the television, their eyes glued to _The Island of Misfit Toys._ Poor, poor Hermey the elf, will he ever be a dentist?

"Do you hear what you're thinking?" Jean muttered. Logan was probably the only one who could hear her, but he wasn't listening in. "You've got to try to detach yourself from her. We've lost. I'm not going to stalk Zoey's thoughts just to encourage your crush on a girl that will probably die within a few days."

"Vas?!" Kurt blushed, though Jean couldn't tell through the fur. "I don't have a czrush on her!"

She shook her head. "You keep telling yourself that. Maybe in a few hours, it'll be true, and you won't be as upset when we leave."

"Jean!"

"I'm serious, Kurt." She said sympathetically.

He groaned. "Vhere's your Christmas spirit?"

"Back at the mansion."

Kurt snorted, rolling his eyes. "Ja, very funny." He said. "Vhy don't you just go vatch Rudolph vith your boyfriend?"

"Boyf—he's not my boyfriend!" Jean gasped, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"And I am a hairless mole rat."

"I swear, Kurt, one of these days…"

He let out a dramatic fake gasp. "Don't svear on Christmas!"

The conversation went on like that, and they ended up watching the movie with the other X-Men while they drank eggnog and hot chocolate. After Rudolph ended, they flipped through the channels and found the tale of Scrooge and watched that.

And that's how the day went. They ate, talked, laughed, watched classic Christmas movies, later on they went to see all of the decorated streets. Logan, after some time, abandoned them for a date with a seasonal beer at his favorite bar. He did not attend the service with everyone else, feeling too tipsy to enter a church, let alone a church on Christmas. So, when night fell and the air grew colder, Ororo took Kurt, Scott, Jean, and Rogue to St. Patrick's cathedral for a holiday service.

The night sky was…truthfully, not beautiful. It wasn't ugly, it just wasn't stunning like the city was when shown in movies or depicted in books. The lights of the city were so bright that Kurt could barely see any stars. He counted four, and their light was faint. There were only a few sparse clouds in the sky, but they were dark and looming, and Kurt knew it was bound to snow later on.

Needless to say, the cathedral was much more beautiful than the starless sky. Candles were everywhere, people bundled up in their coats listened to the gorgeous organ play Christmas hymns. Kurt and the others settled into one of the front pews, and Kurt smiled to himself, happy to be back at a church. He'd been slacking on his attendance. Scott saw his smile, and simply shook his head. Whatever. They just didn't appreciate religion like he did. Oh well.

A minister finally entered and a sermon began. Kurt listened intently, while watching his friends at the same time. Storm was listening, but not as well as he was, Jean was half listening, as was Scott, and Rogue wasn't paying attention at all. She had the most distinct look on her face that showed she believed she didn't belong there. He sighed as the advent candles were lit. The minister talked for a bit longer, then all of the lights in the cathedral went out and the congregation sat in silence. More candles were lit, then the lights went back on at midnight, allowing everyone to leave as it was officially midnight, Christmas day. His teammates rose, but Kurt remained in his seat, admiring the beautiful decorations and the spiritual fulfillment. Scott turned to look at him.

"Coming, Kurt?" He asked.

Nightcrawler shook his head. "You guys go on…I'm going to stick around here for a vhile."

"Suit yourself. Careful when you're on your way back."

"Sure, sure."

They left him in silence, and after a few minutes, Kurt got up with the last few dwindling members and pretended to leave. He actually just hid in a shadow toward the back of the building. Eventually, even the staff had left, and Kurt was finally alone. He did a bit of praying and confessing, then he sat by himself in the middle of the dark church.

He was there for forty minutes or so. He then stood up with a sigh and a smile, walked to the exit, and 'ported through the door.

Kurt was about to start walking back to the hotel when he heard something come from an alleyway next to the cathedral. A faint jingling sound. He crept slowly into the alley but saw nothing.

"Zoey? Is that you?"

There were a few moments of silence, then a girl shuffled out from behind a bunch of cans. "How'd you know it was me?" She asked.

"Vell. I figured you vere either a cat, Santa Clause, or you. Most people don't jingle." Nightcrawler explained, stepping toward her. He then added, "Or sparkle."

"…Touché."

The two of them laughed quietly.

"Did you hear zee sermon?" He asked.

Zoey shook her head slowly. "No. I didn't go inside. Too many people. And churches are closely related to charities."

Kurt rolled his eyes, then looked her over. Her golden eyes held an icy cold stare, more so than before, and what was left of her sparkles had all turned black, and disappeared almost instantly after they were generated. She had with her the same bag that she always carried, but was gripping it more loosely, was less protective of it. All in all, she looked bad.

"Do you vant to go inside now? Vith me? Everyone else is gone."

She hesitated. "Shouldn't you be getting back to your friends? They'll worry about you."

"They know I can take care of myself. If anything vent wrong, Jean vould know. Come inside vith me." He said again, now more definite than the last suggestion. Kurt held out his hand this time, ready to lead her into the cathedral.

She stared.

No, _no._ She still didn't trust him. She didn't trust any of them. How? How could she still not trust them? He didn't know what else to do. This girl would suffer because she couldn't remember how to trust.

Maybe she just needed a little reminder.

"Trust me," Kurt whispered.

Reluctant, Zoey took his hand. He smiled, proud of himself. "It vill be dark in zere. Don't panic." Nightcrawler warned. With that, he teleported the two of them back into Saint Patrick's.

It took him a second for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, then Kurt led Zoey up to the front of the church.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nightcrawler muttered wistfully.

"What I can see of it is," Zoey responded, her voice hushed.

The two of them sat together near the organ, which Zoey surprisingly wasn't all that interested in. When Kurt questioned her about it, she simply responded that she was too tired to play anything, even quietly. For some reason, this upset him.

"Zoey," He addressed after they had been in the cathedral for around twenty minutes or so.

"Mhmm?"

"Vould you please go back to zee mansion vith us? Ve're leaving tomorrow. But I don't vant to leave vithout you." He beseeched. "It's really not zat bad. It's great at Xavier's. You could try it for a little vhile and see._._"

Zoey started to pull away, an apologetic expression on her face. "Kurt—"

"_Please._" He whispered. "You're sick. How could I go on knowing zat I left you to…" Kurt trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. But she knew what he meant, they both did, unfortunately.

The last comment seemed to phase her, somehow. Something about his words hit her, _hard,_ and she looked down, almost in shame, but mostly in defeat. There was a far too long silence.

"Fine."

Kurt looked up, a spark in his eyes. "Vas?! Really?"

The girl sighed, "I know we're all going to regret it…but yes."

He felt like a kid in a candy store. Nightcrawler gave her his biggest smile, and an incredibly tight hug. She blushed. "No, ve von't regret it. Really! And zee only possible vay you'd regret joining is because you'd have to go back to school and hang around vith us freaks." Kurt joked. "Now come on, before you change your mind!"

Zoey gave him a forced, small smile, then he teleported them as far as he dared, which was about two hundred or so feet away from the hotel. It was snowing now. A light snow with millions of huge snowflakes. The two of them admired it for a while before Kurt started walking with her toward the hotel entrance. After a few feet, it really hit him just how weak she looked. He laced his arm around her back to help her walk. Just to help her walk. They both knew that.

When they got into the hotel, the girl looked stunned. It was warm. And light. And big and beautiful, and filled with happy, healthy people. There was no dust. The lighting was electric, the only candles she saw were plastic.

Kurt debated between taking the stairs so he could port them up, or taking the elevator. He figured that teleporting has to do _something_ to make people tired, even if it was just quicken their heart rate or something. He decided that the elevator was the best bet. Nightcrawler led her in and pressed the button for their floor, then waited. Food would be a problem. She needed to eat _now, _but she most definitely would not want to. And what would happen when she found out she'd have to be fed with syringes?

Okay, they'd go in, do a little introduction, Rogue would move to the pull out couch and would make up some story as to why she'd been sleeping on the couch since they'd gotten to the hotel, and everyone would go to sleep. Zoey would be offered Rogue's bed, which she would take without knowing, and she would be fed in the morning. If she were to die overnight in her sleep, Jean would alert Storm and they'd do something about it before it happened. The end. No harm done.

Still holding her, Kurt guided Zoey to their room. He knocked on the door. "Ready?" He asked softly, with a bright smile.

"Not really." She replied unenthusiastically.

"Too bad."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I don't even have an excuse. Life happened. I think I started this in 8****th**** grade, and now I'm about to go to college. I am so sorry. If you're still with me, I give you props. I'm actually really embarrassed by the earlier chapters of this story and once I get back into the habit of updating it, I'll be going back and fixing earlier chapters as well to try to make them sound like they weren't written by a fourteen year old.**

**Also, I've changed up how I write Kurt's accent—just in case anyone gets confused.**

**Buy my book! Google "Abreaction: A Holocaust Story" for sale on Lulu.**

* * *

There was a rather big fuss when they got inside, and Zoey looked more apologetic and embarrassed when Ororo started settling her in. She only asked her one time if she wanted to eat—and her answer was, predictably, no. Storm noticed the moment after she asked that Zoey wouldn't be able to eat. There is a point of time when a person suffering from malnutrition would actually get sick after he or she ate, and she was definitely past this point. Storm knew that they would have to feed her intravenously—something she really, _really_ didn't want to do; if there was a way to make it seem like they actually _did_ want to hurt her, that was the way. Plus, they'd have to do it right after Zoey fell asleep, which was even more sketchy.

But it was the only way.

Logan made everyone go to sleep pretty quickly, since he knew Zoey probably didn't like the attention. So the only people awake were Jean, Storm, and himself. They kept Jean up because they needed her telepathy.

Jean rolled down the sheets on what was her bed. "You can sleep here, Zoey." She said with a smile. Zoey was taken aback.

"B-but…there aren't enough beds for—"

"I've been sleeping on the couch," She explained quietly. "I'm not a fan of hotel mattresses."

Zoey didn't buy it, but Jean reassured her and she eventually got into the bed, hugging her messenger bag close to her, and fell asleep very quickly.

Jean waited to see what she dreamt about, so she could try to get a look into her past, but there was nothing but a deep and dark, thoughtless sleep.

"Jean?" Storm intruded quietly. "What is she thinking about?"

"Nothing," Jean answered slowly. Any trace of thought was quickly fading away. "No dreams. Storm, she's really weak. We have to do something fast."

"I know." She replied. She turned to Logan, who was standing against the doorway between the two rooms, "Get the equipment." He went through the door, grabbed a large leather bag of medical tools, and handed it to her. "Thank you," Storm muttered, as she pulled out a syringe and a small bottle.

* * *

Zoey woke up in the middle of the night, noticing a small red dot on her arm when she opened her eyes. She had no reaction to it. She assumed that the X-Men had drugged or poisoned her, which was what she expected from the beginning. But what she couldn't understand was why she was feeling better, and not worse. She held up her hand and squinted her eyes to see it. The sparkles that fell from it were still black, but there were much more of them. She thought of teleporting out.

* * *

Christmas morning. Once everyone was completely awake, there was the usual Christmas joy and spirit in the air. Even though it was only morning, everyone dined on eggnog and cookies, and cheese with crackers. Santa obviously couldn't deliver presents to a hotel, so Kurt's gifts were _obviously_ home in Germany.

Jean laughed. "Kurt, you can't be serious."

"What?"

"You still believe in Santa Clause?"

"Sinterklass is _real."_ Nightcrawler said, angrily sticking out his tongue. "And you don't get presents because you don't believe."

"No, I get presents from my—"

"Not listening! La la la la la!"

Rogue laughed. "Don't ya mean, 'Fa la la la la?'"

Kurt smiled, "I wasn't thinking about zat, but now zat you mention it…"

Rogue laughed harder, and Jean just rolled her eyes. Kurt was still in his bed, watching Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys and A Christmas Story at the same time, switching between the two channels every now and then.

_We're on the Island of Misfit Toys. Here we don't want to stay…_

Kurt stretched out with a yawn, and then reached on his nightstand for a cracker. "Hey," he asked as he bit into it. "Is Zoey up yet?"

"I'll check." Rogue said as she walked into the other room. "If she was able to sleep through your annoying voice, she has some talent and—" She cut herself off.

Kurt's head tilted in curiosity. "Rogue? Is everything alright?" He called.

"She's—" Rogue gasped. Kurt's eyes widened and he shot up.

"No she's not. Calm down." Jean reassured loudly enough for the both of them to hear. "She's taking a shower. Storm just went out to try to find her some new clothes. She still looks pretty beat up, but she's safe now. Professor Xavier told Storm and I that until we get Zoey to the mansion, we just have to be extra careful that she doesn't get sicker than she already is—he thinks she has pneumonia—and that she stays warm, gets rest, stays fed and hydrated…you know, the basics. As long as we're careful, she'll be okay."

Rogue let out a sigh of relief, and Kurt slunk back on to his bed.

"You all have to give this kid some credit," Logan chimed in. "She's been living out on the streets like that for years, and now that she has some real shelter ya think she can't take care of herself?"

"Logan," Jean said slowly. "She was dying. She's sick."

"I know that," He replied instantaneously. "And of course we have to help her. We have helped her. She didn't die, we're doing everything we can—there's no need to stress over keeping an eye on her every second of the day. Glitz isn't a mental case. I guarantee that if she stayed with us for just one day and for whatever reason had to go back on to the streets, she'd be going for at least another month. She's a good, strong kid." Wolverine scratched his head. "If ya fuss over 'er, she'll just get uncomfortable."

Jean brushed a hand through her long hair. "I guess you're right…but…"

"We still have to be careful, whether or not she can handle herself." Scott said. "We won't _fuss_ over her, but every once in a while do a few quick checks to make sure she's alright."

"That'll work." Rogue agreed. Wolverine only shrugged and went back to his coffee.

There was a short silence, with the mutants just watching TV or reading or eating, when suddenly Kurt asked:

"Can I be a dentist?"

Scott looked to him, confused but slightly amused. "Excuse me?"

"I want to be a dentist."

"You're only saying that because Hermey the elf wants to be a dentist."

"Zat's not true! I want to be a dentist. Mutants can be dentists if they want to, right?"

"Mutants can. Kurt Wagner can't."

"Vas!? Why not?!"

"Because Kurt Wagner doesn't floss his _fangs."_

"I do too!"

"Lies. All lies!"

"No, it's true! My teeth are white and pearly!"

Fun like this went on for almost half an hour. Storm had come back to the hotel and had left clothes inside the bathroom for Zoey, and the morning went on as if it were a normal day at the mansion. It wasn't long before Jean and Kurt wanted to go home to see their parents, though.

The mutants began to pack their bags and get ready to leave. It was decided that they would make a pit stop at Evan's house for some lunch and also as an opportunity to introduce Zoey to friendly non-mutants, which Evan's parents were a perfect example of. Spyke lived in the city, so they only needed to take a bus to his house after they checked out of the hotel.

Kurt could see that Zoey was extremely nervous and uncomfortable on the bus. She didn't like being in crowds to begin with, although she had to deal with that every day, but she hadn't been in a moving vehicle for years. She had a death grip on her seat and was pressed as close to the window as she could be, taking extra care not to even slightly touch Jean, who was sitting next to her. Nightcrawler sighed. At least Glitz was making _some_ progress.

It was evident for anyone to see that, if she had the chance, Glitz wanted nothing more than to teleport off of the bus at any given moment. She had already felt awkward this morning when she found that Ororo had bought her nearly an entire wardrobe of nice clothes, and now she was being sent to strange places she had never been to before. Kurt thought she looked like she believed that she was walking to her own execution.

That was only based off of her expression. Her body itself showed other types of weakness. While she was less pale than she had been recently, she was still sickly white and shivering, as well as coughing a storm of diamond dust, which was mostly hidden in the fog coming from her breath because of the temperature. He knew that she would be alright, though. If Zoey had made it this far, she could only get stronger.

At long last, the bus stopped at a station which was two blocks away from the Daniels's home. Scott tried to help Zoey off of the bus, but she slyly avoided his touch and slowly lowered herself down the steps alone, nearly slipping in the attempt. Kurt had his eyes on her the entire time as the gang walked toward their destination.

When they arrived, Storm rang the doorbell. The team was huddled together on the steps to the door, with Glitz hiding directly behind everyone. Mrs. Daniels was the one who answered the door, gleefully inviting the group inside of her home. Nightcrawler noticed how happy Storm looked to be reunited with her sister, brother-in-law, and nephew for the holidays and longed to be with his own family home in Germany. As excited as he was to have finally completed their mission and have saved Zoey, he really did just want to go see his parents.

"Scott! Kurt, Jean, Rogue!" A voice exclaimed cheerfully. As Kurt shuffled in, he identified the voice as Spyke's. "It's great to see you guys! I heard the mission went well? What's her name, and where is she?" Evan said, directing the last part to Rogue. Kurt could tell he was only interested in the fact that she was, well, a _she. _Evan wouldn't have cared if she were dying or not. He half scoffed, but was still enthusiastic to see his friend again. Spyke and Nightcrawler were actually rather close.

"Her name's Zoey," Scott told Evan, as Rogue had already been coaxed into a conversation with Mrs. Daniels. "Zoey Harvest, or Glitz. She teleports and makes diamonds. She kinda sparkles, too."

Zoey slowly stepped forward, and when she made eye contact with Evan, he gasped and then yelped. Spyke sprinted to the staircase, clinging to the railing.

"G-ghost!" He stammered accusingly. "Y-you're the theatre ghost! But you're…not a ghost! You're alive?"

She giggled softly and weakly. "Boo." She teased with a smile.

"Evan, what's going on?" Storm demanded softly, confused.

"Sh-she's—I thought she—my friends and I always thought—"

"I told you, all of the kids in this neighborhood think my theatre is haunted." Zoey quietly explained with a smile to Ororo.

"But you're just a mutant," Spyke said, the epiphany overcoming him. "Like me. You're a mutant. You're not a ghost…that explains the disappearing, and…"

Zoey laughed softly. So did everyone else. The Daniels brought out soup for everybody to eat, but Zoey didn't take very much. She was malnourished to the point that eating real food made her feel sick. Kurt devoured three whole bowls, though, as Evan caught up with the so-called "ghost" who had played tricks on him and his friends when they tried to break into her theatre once.

Everyone stayed with the Daniels, eating soup for about one hour before Storm decided that it was time for everyone to depart. They had to get Jean and Kurt back to their families, plus they wanted to settle Zoey into her new home and try to heal her. Ororo promised her sister that she would be back soon, and the X-Men departed.

They walked to where they had hidden the jet, and everyone got inside while Storm and Wolverine planned their course. It was decided that they would go back to Xavier's first to drop off Zoey, then Ororo would drive Jean back to her family while Logan took Kurt to the airport so he could go back to Germany for the remainder of the holidays. Nightcrawler felt terrible leaving Zoey by herself after he had just convinced her to join the team, but he missed his parents and didn't want to skip out on Christmas. Santa awaited in the old country.

It was quickly discovered that Glitz was not very fond of flying. She claimed that it was not her first time and that planes had never bothered her before, but she was clinging to her seat as her eyes darted from emergency exit to emergency exit, as if she were ready to simply bolt from the aircraft at any second. Wolverine, therefore, stayed with her throughout the flight, hoping to make her feel a little braver since he, too, disliked flying. Jean suggested that the air pressure could simply be aggravating Zoey's current ailments, and recommended that she try to sleep through the rest of the flight. Reluctantly, still without trust, Glitz did exactly that.

"She still thinks we're going to kill her," Jean announced, sounding exasperated as she slumped back, defeated. Scott groaned. "She doesn't trust us at all—she's just given up on trying to live. I think after we've gained her trust and stuff, we should find out about this "anti-mutant group" she was talking about. It sounds bad, and it obviously traumatized her. Who knows what's out there. That group could be looking for one of us right now."

Rogue seemed a little distressed by the thought, showing signs of a headache once again. She, too, decided to get some rest and slept as far away as possible from Glitz. Kurt sighed. They had hardly spoken to each other and seemed to have no interest in even glancing in each other's general direction. They almost seemed afraid of each other.

"Just give it time, Kurt." Jean said, having heard his thoughts. "Zoey's just still afraid of us, and Rogue doesn't like people in general. They'll come around eventually."

"We can't force it, though." Scott resolved. "Let's just focus on making our new friend as comfortable as possible. Has she ever been to school?" He asked, directing the question to Logan.

"Xavier didn't say," Wolverine answered with a shrug. "I wouldn't be surprised. She was in an orphanage for a while, so she obviously has _some_ education, but I don't know about a public school."

The altitude and air quality was indeed affecting Zoey's illness. Jean decided that was precisely why she suddenly disliked flying. Glitz had fallen asleep, more out of weakness than tiredness, and her breathing was so heavy and labored that she could hear it from the other side of the plane. Zoey was also not emitting many sparkles, given the amount of air she was taking in. Even when she coughed, the glitter didn't seem to flow as much as it had.

Soon, the jet landed at Xavier's. Zoey woke up and reluctantly allowed Logan to help her off of the plane. The whole gang went inside and immediately sat Zoey down in a too-comfortable chair. The plans changed around a bit, and it was decided that Storm would drive Kurt to the airport and Jean to her family while Logan stayed at the mansion. Storm also decided that if Kurt did not want to miss his flight, they couldn't stay and speak to Xavier.

"Bye, Zoey," Kurt and Jean said with a smile.

She looked up. "You're…leaving? You're not staying here?" Zoey stammered. Jean flinched. It definitely wasn't their best idea, but they had no choice.

"Kurt and I have our own families to get back to," Jean explained. "But Scott and Logan and Kitty and Rogue and Professor Xavier will all still be here to keep you company!"

"Kitty's home with her family, actually," Scott chimed in. "It won't be too bad, though. Maybe it's for the best. You need time to recover, and everyone will be back after New Year's. The Professor will take care of you, and Logan, Rogue, and I will be here to keep you company in the meantime."

Kurt grew tense as he watched Zoey lose even more color in her face. He wanted badly to stay with her, to help her get better and to become her friend, but he couldn't. He had always considered himself extremely lucky to have adoptive parents that loved him so much, and he couldn't bear to leave them alone on Christmas. Kurt shirked back, realizing that he wouldn't be able to eloquently explain this fact to Zoey. His eyes wandered toward the ground, almost ashamed. At least she wasn't in immediate danger of dying anymore. She was safe, and that was what mattered. She would likely still be at the mansion when he returned. Hopefully Rogue and Logan wouldn't scare her away before then.

"Professor Xavier and I will take good care of you. I'm sure this will be the best Christmas you've had in a long time," Cyclops added, noticing Zoey's drastic loss of enthusiasm as well.

Nightcrawler took a step towards her with open arms, but of course, she drew back. He was unoffended, knowing that it would be a long time before she made physical contact with any of them. "I have to go now, Zoey," he said quietly. "But I'll be back soon; we all will. And I will call tomorrow to check up on you and to wish you a merry Christmas!"

"Goodbye," she answered in a bitter tone. Kurt could tell—she felt betrayed, as though she was right from the beginning and really had walked right into a trap, and Kurt's leaving would be the start of her torment. What had she been through? Did the "anti-mutant group" that she had spoken about hunt her down on more than one occasion? Had they succeeded and done something to her? To her family? Why, if she had seen that the X-Men were also mutants, was she still convinced that they had something to do with it?

Kurt's smile faded. "Yes…see you soon," he quietly mused. He turned to Storm and piped up, "Let's go!"

He walked with Ororo and Jean and turned back to face Zoey before he exited through the front door, getting one last look at her hopeless and helpless expression. Kurt smiled at her, closed the door and sighed. He knew she couldn't possibly understand how important it was that they see their families. Kurt knew that Zoey had at one point in time had a family, but who knows how old she was when she lost them or if she had been old enough to remember the holidays.

"I just hope Logan and Rogue don't scare her off before we get back," Jean pondered in an honest tone as they walked toward the gate. Wolverine usually didn't stick around for the holidays, and the mansion would have been only the Professor, Scott, and Rogue, but Logan made the decision that it would be better for Zoey if more people were around.

Kurt pursed his lips together. "I wish you or the Professor could just use your powers, show her your mind and memories—then she would know zat we're the good guys, and she would trust us!"

"While that is possible, it is also possible for them to show her a lie, Kurt," Ororo explained. "And Zoey is well aware of that."

"In fact, she'd probably trust us even _less _for going into her mind," Jean added. "Even if she runs away, it's not that big of a deal anymore. She's here now, she's no longer in immediate danger of dying, and she'll get healthier and stronger while she's at the Institute and Professor Xavier is taking care of her. Even if she only sticks around for two days and then leaves, we probably wouldn't have to go looking for her right away. Zoey's safe now."

Nightcrawler just nodded as the three mutants walked up to the car, and he looked back at the institute. "I hope so," he murmured.


End file.
